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Here it is summer already and the BLM has removed their mining claims maps - again. They say they think they will be back online on the 26th. 🐕🐴 For all those hoping to do some research before a weekend of prospecting Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps this week. These are the most up to date claims maps available anywhere. Heck they may be the only current free mining claim maps available anywhere. The Land Matters maps have more information than the BLM maps and they are the only maps that have the claim owner names. Anyone who has researched a potential prospecting area understands how important it is to be able to look up the claims paperwork and you can't do that without a name. So if you have been wondering how to check out that new area while the BLM is down again just wander on over to Land Matters and take a look around. We are always up and running and have been every day since 2014.

I couldn’t wait to get out after seeing Calmark & Gerry’s Flood Pictures of Rye Patch dry washes! Though I’d give it a few days to dry out and for a Road Crew to fix the main dirt roads. Road Crew, did a great job with a new Culvert installed on the main drainage of Poker Brown wash and regraded it to my left turn to the Majuba Placer. I was impressed with the erosion of this storm, had to be one for the record book. Being a student of Hydrology during my dredging years, I learned each flood was different from each other in their course of moving material down a drainage. I had my eyes set on two dry washes that produced well for me in the past, both with shallow bedrock. Parked and loaded up my RZR, I headed off to the first location. Donning my gear, I was hoping my Headphones took a charge. My charging light wouldn’t show it was charging, I was hoping the light was just burnt out. Anyways, it was working just fine as I was swinging my coil on the short hike to this small section of dry wash. I arrived, and looked down at my location…it was nearly unrecognizable and was covered with yards of fresh packed dirt. I looked up stream, to see what caused this mess. The wash had such a flow 25 yards above my spot it cut a new channel and layed all the overburdened to the slowdown bend of my location. I still swung it and the new cut to no avail, I’ll wait for the next flood to see if it moves the overburdened…I hate shoveling 😂. Next spot, was perfect! The flow exposed my favorite 10 ft section of Shale. I swung into this area 20 ft above the exposed section to give my 6000 a chance to ground balance. I was eyeballing a spot during my slow sweeps of my 10x5 Coiltek and as soon as I went over the bedrock I heard the sweet sound of my plan come alive. Keeping my eye on the spot, I set my detector down ahead of me it made a familiar tone and I gently raised it up and back down, yes another target. We’ll long story short, I pulled these seven out of the 10 ft section. When I first found this spot many Moons ago it was a good 8” down to the bedrock and produced several 2+ dwt nuggets. Thru the many new models of Minelab detectors it produced other nuggets and I’m sure the 6000 just clean this exposed section out for good. Except now, I’m sure the Gold goes into the 3ft bank of overburdened of the wash on top of this bedrock, I hate shovels! I’ll bank this spot just in case they redesign a shovel into a backhoe! It was late in the day and I headed back to camp before dark. It was a windy night and the morning it died down to a tolerable wind speed for detecting. At my location and 10 minutes in, my detector made a noise I hadn’t heard before! I looked down at my battery charge and it was only down a third. Well it was working fine and continued my hunt a few minutes later the same noise? A few minutes later and my headphones turned off 🙁. I tried, for 30 minutes with just the unit’s speaker and as much as I like the speaker it wasn’t good enough with my worn out Military Hearing fighting against the breeze of the High Plane Desert. Beautiful weather and I hated to leave, got home and found the On-line repair ticket of Minelab USA. Until the next Hunt! LuckyLundy

After a long wait, I finally received the NF 12x7 Xceed coil for my GPX6 and used it for the first time in an area that has small and shallow gold. I ended up with 10 nuggets for a total weight of 1.2 grams. The smallest nugget weighed 0.023 gram and was somewhere between 1 to 2 inches deep. This is the smallest nugget I have ever found metal detecting. I dont know if the stock 11 inch coil would have heard this tiny nugget but I will say the Xceed coil is plenty sensitive enough for me and there is no need or desire for me to find anything smaller.

My compliments to the posters for showing how to answer questions without getting political. The secret is simple. Discuss what is. That's it. Not why. Some people people love to argue over the whys of things and assign blame. Here, I want to concentrate on what unites us, not what divides us, and solving problems for each other is a great place for that to happen. Please nobody respond to this. It is just that when I saw the post topic, California and rules, and I cringed "here we go again." Instead, I'll enjoy my morning coffee. Compliments to the posters. Thank you very much!! But again, let's not let my post become a subject of discussion. Thanks.

Having spent the better part of the last two decades writing up field tests on metal detectors, I have had the opportunity to use a lot of machines. Due to publishing deadlines, timing of receiving the unit, testing/learning the detector and a lot of behind-the-scenes tasks required to get a field test published, it is not the gravy train that a lot of folks think it is. Yes, it can be fun, but it is work. The toughest part on rare occasions was to not have the time to really flush out a new metal detector, especially when other articles and field tests were lining up. While I could get a sense of using the detector and describing its features in the context of a field test, there were times that I really wanted to have more time to get to know a detector. Well now that I am retired from writing up field tests due to Western and Eastern Treasures Magazine ceasing publication at the end of 2022, time has become available to revisit a detector or two. One such case is the Garrett Ace Apex, Garrett’s first multi-frequency detector that was introduced in 2020. I wrote the field test on the Apex for the November 2020 issue of Western and Eastern Treasures and after that was delivered the detector basically sat idle until about 2 months ago. With all the constant buzz about various new multi-frequency detectors, incessant “update” anxiety and the like, I found myself overloaded on the whole multi-frequency side of our hobby. That led me to recall the Apex. I remember that I liked it some, had good luck with it at the beach and decent but not overwhelming success with it inland. After digging the detector out of my garage I put it on the charger and decided to do a little Internet research to see how the Apex had gone over since its introduction. To my surprise, there were very few recent posts and videos. Digging a bit deeper I discovered that Garrett had issued an update on 11/30/2022 that offered several improvements: · Improved overall stability · Faster and more accurate ground balance in saltwater · More accurate pinpointing · More distinctive tones to better differentiate good targets from bad Just like with the Apex itself, this update garnered very little web/forum activity, again a bit of a surprise. I wondered why the Apex, Garrett’s first multi-frequency detector, seemed to have been forgotten, lost in the wake of the multi-frequency whirlwind that hit the industry over the past several years. That led me to this post. Basically, over the course of the last two months I decided to revisit the Apex to see just what it could, and could not do. I would like to make one thing clear before the post. This revisiting of the Apex is of my own doing. It was not requested by Garrett, nor do I, or have I ever, been consulted by them regarding developing or testing of their metal detectors. This post is very simply reflective of my desire to spend more time with the Apex than my field test allowed. For those of you who are interested I’ve attached a copy of my original field test for your reference. Comment if you wish, criticize at your own risk, and no matter what, dear God please don’t ask me what my settings are. Fair enough? Now, let’s revisit the Apex. The Apex Itself What I had forgotten about the Apex is how much I liked its “landscape orientation” control box. Since the industry has gone all in on the pod design common to just about every new detector release, the Garrett approach is one that I find refreshing. The display is nicely arranged, the menus make sense and aren’t buried, and the thumb wheel of control buttons beats any pod set of pushbuttons by a mile. The detector is also very easy to swing and well balanced. The Viper coil is one that I prefer due to it’s blade like configuration. While I have used the larger Reaper coil which does give greater coverage, I do not think you lose much with the Viper. Plus it is lighter. Setup to Detect Given the fact that the Apex is part of the Ace line, there are minimal adjustments compared to higher end detectors. You basically turn on the detector, select a search mode, adjust sensitivity and go. What impressed me about this second tour of the Apex is that this lack of adjustability did not affect performance in my hunting environments at all. Not to mention it made my hunts more enjoyable. Features News flash: the Apex DOES NOT HAVE A BOTTLE CAP REJECT SETTING. NOR DOES IT HAVE AN IRON MASK SETTING. How on earth can you hunt with such a primitive detector? It’s easy thanks to Garrett’s Iron Audio feature. Yes, when you have it on all the time the iron grunting will drive you crazy. SO JUST USE IT SELECTIVELY. On the saltwater beaches, this feature was terrific at identifying suspect signals. When I got jumpy numbers, or overly high numbers, all I had to do was turn on the Iron Audio. If it was iron or a bottlecap it grunted every time. The only time it would get fooled was on those tiny screw caps that you find on airline liquor bottles. The Apex was also the only metal detector that I have ever used that was not fooled by the most insidious of all bottlecaps: the dreaded foil-wrapped cap. They read good on every machine I have used except the Apex. When you hit one with the Apex you will get a high slightly bouncy number and when you tun the Iron Audio on it grunts. I also used this feature in the parks and it worked equally well. I’d also like to comment on target ID on the Apex. I love the old school bars across the top, they are a handy reference. And the Apex’s 1 0 – 99 scale is pretty solid as opposed to other multi’s that I have used where the expanded TID scales result in jumpy numbers. It’s not perfect but I could get pretty consistent numbers with multiple swings over targets. The Beach The Apex is flat out a great saltwater beach detector. This second tour with it confirmed just that. In my last four hunts I found gold three times using the Viper coil which excellent on small gold. A thin 10K ring that read a solid 44. A small gold earring that gave a good tone but had weird, jumpy numbers, from 40 – 55. I almost didn’t dig it but the sound was, well weird. It was different than jumpy bottlecap numbers. I checked it with Iron Audio and got a partial grunt but also good tone. The reason? When I recovered the earring the clasp was open. Closed it read a solid 55. I had two buddies with their high-end detectors check the earring with the clasp open and both said they would not have dug it because it sounded like junk. And finally, last week a 14K butterfly charm with inlaid diamonds that read 48. All in the wet sand with one bar below max sensitivity. The Apex falsed very little on the wet sand and when it did get a little noisy all I had to do was a quick ground balance. In terms of coins, the Apex did just fine on both wet and dry sand. A mentioned earlier, I liked the Viper coil better than the Reaper at the beach and I think my results speak for themselves. I should note that on these hunts there were up to eight other hunters gridding the same sections of the beach that I was hunting. Every one of them was using a high dollar, top end multi-frequency detector. I did not feel like I was losing anything with my Apex. Now, if you are a surf wash hunter, the Apex is not for you. Yes, it does ground balance easily when submerged in salt water. But the wash will cause it to false with each pass of the whitewater. Personally, since the Apex is not waterproof, only water-resistant, I would not hunt the surf line anyway. Having been hit by a rogue wave years ago I’m not willing to take the risk. If you do hunt the surf and in the water there are better options in terms of detectors. Inland Whatever they did with the update, the general hunting experience of the Apex has been improved in my view. I ran U.S. Coins, which is a nifty option in that it includes all high conductors plus nickels (a range where I have been historically very lucky finding gold). In my hunts in very trashy parks this mode worked great. Some tabs read at the low end of zincs, around 66, and I was able to recognize them after digging several. The Apex target ID numbers are very solid and not jumpy, which given the 0 – 99 TID range is an advantage. While not having a myriad of adjustable settings, the Apex performed pretty well in the high trash. Yes, when you use Jewelry Mode the foil comes to life but that is the case with any detector. I generally don’t hunt in this mode in trash because there is just too much noise to sort through. Using U.S. Coins I was able to hit coin targets easily, even when there were multiple targets. The Iron Audio is a huge advantage when used to check targets. If I got a good hit but it was a bit clipped, turning the Iron Audio on would confirm for me that there was iron present as well. The YouTube idiots who dismissed this detector when it came out because of the noisy Iron Audio just didn’t understand that you shouldn’t leave it on all of the time. Bottlecaps were a cinch to ID. When I got a good high target ID and a solid one-way target response it was always a bottlecap. I checked first with the Iron Audio and confirmed that the target was iron. This worked on everything except screw caps. The other advantage that the Apex has in high trash is the Viper coil. Due to its long, narrow footprint, it can sort out and pinpoint multiple targets easily, much more so than a traditional round coil. By the way, I didn’t notice anything new about the pinpointing. It works just fine but I didn’t have an issue with it when I field tested the detector. I’m just noticing the page length here and need to restrict my field tester instincts before this becomes a full-blown article. Therefore I will sum up this revisiting of the Apex by saying that in my personal view, it is a very cable multi-frequency metal detector that has not received its due. It finds stuff and uses a platform that is markedly different from its competitors. It is a very enjoyable metal detector to use. I sincerely hope that Garrett continues to develop Multi-Flex and I believe that if enhanced in a higher end model it could be a completely unique offering in the world of multi-frequency metal detecting. FYI I intend to keep using mine. Apex Field Test 11202020.pdf

If it is a one off there is no way of correcting it at this time with no way of going backward and reloading the update. When I connect my Manticore it tells me I have the most up to date software version with no other option to do anything. I'm headed out to do a video which I will post this evening. I will compare the D2, Manticore and 900 on some buried targets to show what I'm talking about.

Steve, Im so glad you posted these "Stupid Tricks". Iv only had the Axiom out about 10 days (maybe 40-50hrs), so im still getting to know it. Most locations have been challenging in one way or another. Either horrible EMI, wet red clay and fields of hot rocks ( or all three at once). Yesterday i got out with the intention to play around with settings a bit more and try out a few tricks. With regards to the minimum threshold: I found this to be an especially helpful and interesting part of the Axiom to explore. I guess i had not really dug into the nuances up to this point. One thing that stood out was turning down the threshold below 0 mellowed out the EMI significantly. What a nice surprise! I was able to comfortably up the gain a notch as well. Turning to the extremes of -9 threshold and full sensitivity and then backing off each incrementally i found a sweet spot for the day. Sensitivity 5 and threshold +8 (normal timing) This was great, very little EMI coming through, still picked up birdshot, ground mostly steady. Usually in this location and im running at 3-4, so great experiment. Im used to a steady gpx threshold thats tuned for quiet operation and I have had a difficult time achieving this on the Axiom. I wish i could better articulate (Steve maybe you could elaborate) how it is different, but ill just say something else is going on in the way mode/gain/threshold level effects the whole soundscape. I worry that Im not hearing the "faint" part of the whisper of a small/deep target like i most certainly do using SDC/GPX . Taking some getting used to for sure. Sensitivity I have experimented with low sensitivity and yeah, lowering it helps almost the entire spectrum, stability wise, while not loosing too much depth. Although at a point the tiny ones disappear when switching from fine to normal. Upping the gain can bring them back but i guess it depends on the ground/EMI of the day. So far I havent been able to make a faint target stand out that much more by simply turning up the gain. Yes and no I guess. Specific setting adjustments for that exact spot /target bring them out a bit more but I cant comfortably keep hunting in those settings. Seems like I lean towards the lower sensitivity and 3 being most preferable for the average day/conditions so far. Ground Balance Gold Neck Prospecting made some great observations that could easily be overlooked if not experimented with. One being the ground balance. I had the same thought about it feeling like i was using a VLF at times. Sometimes Ground balancing a few times or more in the same area around a target is necessary to get a proper balance. I mean yeah, of course, but its all too easy to balance out/in hot rocks, minerals, and faint targets. (and maybe not know it) Three different balances in the same spot can have dramatically different effects. I have been able to use this to good effect on ironstones and hot rocks sitting together in clay using Steves recommendations. However for me its taking some time to adjust my habits to make it work and feel confident. Im sure a whole thread could be dedicated to making the transition to using the Axiom coming from the Minelab machines..... Anyway, thanks again Steve for eliciting some extra curiosity, it was a fruitful day of experimentation. The big one (18.45g) I hit in the last 15 mins of daylight on the longest day of the year. It was in the middle of a strewn field of large bullets. I had been over the exact area twice before. Two people, me included, probably waved a coil over it and passed it up... It was a screamer/overload and only 2" deep. sounded just like all the other bullets i was tired of digging near the surface (hi-low btw). But since it was my last target of the day and only about 10ft from a previous good find i figured id just go ahead and get that piece of trash out of the way, unbelievable..

XP-----Forget the two box!----We want that 5X10" coil for the Deus 2 that we have been asking for!!!!!

Updated the Manticore a few days ago and took it out today for a few hours. After a while I noticed I wasn't digging anything very deep. So I burned a zincoln penny in my 4 bar dirt at 5" and it was nothing but iron grunts in all programs but prospecting. Changed every setting I could think of and ground balanced a bunch. But still no depth. Pulled out the 900 and the Deus 2 and they both hit it just fine. Dug down to 7 inches and buried the penny, D2 and 900 still picked it up but the Manticore was now completely silent. Maybe a download gone bad or just a bad update in general, IDK. could be linked to my bad dirt. Going to go back to the previous version tomorrow and do some depth tests and then update to the latest version and depth test again.

I'm not seeing any way to go back to the previous version either. Not sure if I'm seeing any depth issues, but I might be. I only got out for two hours last night with the new version and didn't get any good, deep signals and dug nothing deep. On the way home, I was thinking that was kind of weird and wondering why there wasn't anything deeper at that school. Was not thinking anything about the machine, just the site. But, hmmm... I have a 15+ year old coin garden in the back yard I can do some verification with this afternoon. I'll report back. - Dave

nice, I hope it goes well for you. I know your ground is way milder then here in WA where we are detecting, but can you do some kind of comparison between the the new 12x7 and the original 11" standard mono coil I'm still using the 11 mono that came with the 6000, I've had the new 6000 for about 5 or 6 weeks now and detected with it for nearly 5 weeks at the most, and it has a bit over 90 grams of gold so far, so it has more than covered it's purchase price. cheers dave

Checking my diary, I can see that I haven't switched over to the 12x7 for a couple months, so here's a selection of purely 10x5 gold found since May.....all on old ground that Ive already hit hard previously.

Went out yesterday in search of a lost ring at one of our towns ball diamonds. No ring, but I did use the enhancer on our highly mineralized ground here. Set at 6. Wow, it totally settled down the machine in all terrain low conductors. The constant 1 and 2 TIDs completely gone and now the signals are just too awesome. I was able to pull out a 1949 Canada quarter from approx 8".

There’s an innovative pinpointer maker, called SphinxMD out of Russia and they have launched the mother of all pinpointers in the Sphinx 03. The problem for us in the USA, and the West, is our sanctions by design make doing business cost prohibitive. If you’re a fellow techie I suspect you’ll still want to know exactly what it is you’re missing and where the industry will be headed. I happen to have one on hand to review. What’s in the Box: A Sphinx 03 pinpointer. A magnetic holster. A lanyard. A tip cover. A type-c charging cord. Manuals. Optional: A drop leg magnetic holster with pouch and extra tip cover. Ergonomics and handling: This pinpointer fits nicely in the hand. Button placement is dead on. There’s nothing awkward about it. The button is robust and springy, yet easy to activate. The hard shell plastic makes it easy to clean and keep looking nice. It comes with a tip cover with scraper blade. Features: SphinxMD was the first to implement a magnetic on/off holster in the Sphinx 02. This feature has been carried over to the Sphinx 03, works as it should and without delay. It is at the ready as soon as it’s withdrawn from the holster. This saves valuable time (and wear) otherwise spent on button operation. Sphinx 03 has iron discrimination, which when compared to the Minelab ProFind, works exceptionally well. With the ProFind I had to be right on top of iron for the iron tone to activate. By then I’m already distracted. That’s not the case here. The iron tone and LED alert have sufficient depth/range, saving valuable time. The iron tone is trustworthy in that I have not experienced any falsing on non-ferrous metals. If it says it’s iron, it’s iron. The Sphinx continues to innovate with the first ever app for a Pinpointer. That’s right, all functions can be accessed and changed to suit your preferences via the SphinxMD app. This is a first for pinpointers in the industry to my knowledge. It was quick and easy to set up and with a long press of the button you’re synced in the app within seconds. Everything can be customized, activated or deactivated from sensitivity and sound on down. Don’t want to use discrimination? You can turn off the alert. Don’t want to use the magnetic feature? It too can be turned off. This is not a wonky novelty app. It works well. This system is actually much easier and quicker to implement than a series of cumbersome button sequencing nobody ever remembers. If you’re a tinkerer like me you’ll enjoy the interaction and amount of customization this setup allows. If you want to set it and forget it, you can do that too as the changes are wirelessly implemented instantly and remembered. The Sphinx 03 is also IP68 to a depth of 6 meters (20 feet). I have had a chance to use it under water and it’s integrity held up. It has a built in rechargeable lithium battery. I will update when I’ve carried it through a full cycle. The cap is well threaded and easy to remove, yet fits snugly; a necessary combination for a waterproof and rechargeable pinpointer. Other notable features include high sensitivity with high response speed, battery life indication, lost mode, fast detuning with memory function, and automatic Interference protection system which has worked well for me even at the highest level of sensitivity. I have not experienced instability or erratic operation. Depth/Range: Very comparable to the ProPointer AT in this regard. This is not bad at all for a pinpointer boasting a discrimination feature. Discrimination costs a little depth, and so to still be as deep as other leading pinpointers is a plus. Where this pinpointer begins to walk away from others is in its sensitivity to sub-gram and micro jewelry invisible to pinpointers like my Bullsye TRX. The Sphinx 03 also has 360 degree field of detection, rather than tip only detection. Aesthetics: While this doesn’t matter to everyone, it does to me for a couple of reasons. One is pride in ownership of a well crafted tool. Another is it demonstrates pride in craftsmanship by the manufacturer. The Sphinx 03 is a sporty looking piece of tech, and the tip cap adds to this appeal. An optional accessory for this unit is a nice drop leg holster, also with magnetic on/off. I love drop leg holsters and unlike my SHRXY drop leg holster, the material is smooth and easy to keep clean. It also has a nice snug fit.

I live pretty close to @abenson (I've run into him detecting a couple of times). In a few hours I'll give my Manticore with the update a compare to my Nox 800 in my test garden which is likely very similar dirt to his. - Dave

I wonder if it's a one off, something went wrong with the detector or something, I haven't seen anyone else having the same problem. If would be ideal if someone lived near you with another Manticore with the update on it so you can compare them. There is no problem at all in my soils. If anyone lives near you that's going to be the solution to the problem, you either know if you have to send your detector in for warranty, or if they're all the same after the update. If they are I'm sure Minelab will be rushing out another update soon! Minelab should be able to supply you with an update tool for the older firmware, even though the new tool doesn't have a way to roll back they will have a flash tool for an older revision, perhaps contact service@minelab.com.au and ask, that way you're not dealing with middlemen.

Great write up Bill. Add another vote for landscape pods versus tall copied from cell phone pods. Put some more power under the hood in this physical design and plenty of people would be all over it, including me.

What makes the biggest difference between the stock coil and the 12x7 is the winding type, the shielding quality and the 'footprint'.... The stock coil is a flat-wound mono (with some winding defects thrown in) which accentuates the ground noise signal. The shielding quality is low (less than half the ohms what it should be) and unequal with an ineffective screen wire. The footprint is 11" width versus 7" although the overall sq Inch is similar. That narrow width in conjunction with correct shielding and a more sensible & effective winding type (overlaid square bundle) makes for a far superior coil with a lot less ground signal for the processor to combat and pluck audible signals from. I've said it before....the stock 11" is a junk coil compared to the Coiltek and NF offerings. It works, but not well. Well done on the 1/2oz per week average, I got half that here in Vic over the course of my 1st 3 months on the 6000.

Personally I would much rather see a PI coil over a two boxsetup. I may be a bit biased though as I live near Culpeper Virginia and already own a whites TM 808 that I have never used once. Actually I was looking for mortar shells on Monday and completely forgot I even owned the White's machine until I saw the post about the two box machine on here. I'm not as young as I used to be and if I dug a 5-ft deep hole expecting to find a mortar shell only to find a horseshoe I think that would ruin me for the rest of the day possibly the week lol.

I have both the 10x5 and the 12x7. The 12x7 wins with EMI rejection and depth on medium to larger sized targets (say half .22 bullet and up) but the 10x5 wins thru sheer sensitivity and smaller size for getting closer to the ground and between rocks, bushes, sticks etc. Ive found almost 700 bits of gold so far in 2023 and 75% have been with the 10x5 on spots Ive flogged to hell previously. Horses for courses....the 12x7 gets used for open terrain and covering more ground quickly. For everything else, the 10x5 stays attached. When the 8x6 NF mono is released, the evaluation begins anew.....

My 2cW.... yes that was painful to watch. Made me wish I was there and get the target within a few seconds. Ive seen vids where other Axiom owners turn the coil USD to get a better response (Steve) but I see that as a minor detraction....annoying but tolerable. Ive done numerous tests with the SDC on tiny targets heard with other detectors and the ground balance needs about 5-10 seconds of swinging to get an accurate lock with the tracking system. A forced GB would have helped in that instance. The 10x5 mono is equally as sensitive as the 8" stock coil but is far more effective in handling ground and allows better depth on tiny targets....the size is smaller and the 'footprint' is smaller, meaning less ground noise for the processor to pluck targets out of the receive signal. Everyone I know who changed to a 10x5 on the 2300 significantly increased their small gold take....its like a supercharger. The SP-01 amp adds a noticeable % of performance as well.....Nenad did a wonderful job on both the audio patch lead and the Sp amp for the 2300. I am about to add another 2300 as a backup unit and for when the Brother visits to go detecting with me. I would never consider using/owning a 2300 without the 10x5 coil, headphone/audio patch lead and the SP-01. Its like driving a car and only getting as far as 3rd gear....

I hope you're right Rob, I guess I'll soon see.... this little beauty arrived in the mail for me today. Time to put it up against the stock 11" and the 10x5" and see which is most sensitive, no point putting it up against my14x9" as I know the 12x7 has won already.

Minelab employed a lot of filtering to get the old GPX series threshold rock solid steady. It’s telling that they went away from that with the GPZ 7000 and GPX 6000. Some of what you are experiencing as EMI is no doubt just the fact that ever since the GPX 5000 every prospecting PI made since has had a less stable threshold. As far as I am concerned the GPX 5000 and older machines are great detectors. They may be the better option for some people. Some old GPX users will find the Axiom to not be to their liking because it is different. Others will be happy they switched. I’m not trying to push the needle either way. Truth is people will just have to sort it out for themselves on their own ground, but as this thread highlights it might take a little time and experimentation to find out what works best.

Clay Diggings runs the website mylandmatters.org - that’s the best place to start for getting information about claims. But for getting maps of specific claim locations, you will have to go to your county recorders office, or ask BLM for them but you have to ask by giving them specific claim numbers. Be sure to throw Clay a bone if the site helps you out (it will), he’s running the best resource out there for us! http://www.mylandmatters.org/Maps/ClaimsCa/GetMap

Yeah. Put me in that category. Other than for curiosity's sake, I otherwise couldn't care less about this accessory, if that is what it is. Why this would be prioritized over a small elliptical or a functioning, long-promised companion app is beyond me.

I'm hoping for an extremely small coil like the 10x5 we have been on about forever. 🤔 The new space is positioned between the coils and headphones.

The river is extremely low near the house so I took the kayak out to a place where a bridge used to cross the river but was burnt during the Civil war. I turned up some Civil war bullets both Yankee and Confederate a homemade fishing sinker some iron relics and two handguns! You never know what's in the river I guess.

Had a couple hours to get out last Friday with manticore, was running beach deep sens 24 recovery speed 4. Ring is 8.6 grams of 20k tested on xrf gun id was 52-53. Bracelet was gold filled. Ring was about 10-12” deep on towel line and gave a great clear signal. Loving the manti. Thanks John

Their home market is Europe, and selling the dream of finding a hoard a two box like above is the perfect addition to that, they'll probably sell quite well in Europe. Good on XP for doing something different too, providing something that wasn't readily available and different, better than a clone product of another competitor. It would be awesome if they did do something like a PI coil for the Deus 2, I can't imagine it would be able to be powered in the same way though so it may not be something we ever see. The small elliptical and a firmware update to enhance small gold capabilities and the Deus 2 would become very appealing for me, add to that a large 15x12 or 17x13" deep coil and I'd be in line to buy it.

Thanks, Andrew, for doing the legwork that (hopefully) helps all of us out. Given the number of people who have never bought a Manticore but still think they have free reign to bitch about it as if they knew what the hell they were talking about, I (as an owner) hesitate to get too riled up, yet. However, this first issue (irreversible update) gets a F grade in Computer Science 101. Who is in charge over there, Bozo the Clown?? If in fact they actually (intentionally or unintentionally) reduced the depth for mineralized ground with this update, I'm at a loss to figure out how a company whose headquarters is on a continent with some of the worst mineralization on the planet (I realize Oceania isn't uniformly highly mineralized) and who design and build detectors for finding native gold -- often located in the worst ground -- doesn't have a test patch (or more than one) with heavy iron oxidation with which to test changes to ensure they work under varying extreme conditions. Most of us don't live on a pristine white SiO2 beach. I hope there's a simpler explanation that leads me to apologize for this rant. Short of that I hope ML figures this out and fixes it. In the least they need to allow people to revert to the earlier software version. (For once my procrastination seems to have paid off...).

Definitely couldn't use it in my parks and school yards. I wonder how many of those they will sell compared to a 9.5" x 5" elliptical coil?

Just got off the phone with Minelab and there is no way to go back to an older software version at this time. So anyone who hasn't done the update should probably hold off. Minelab said they will report up the chain and get back to me. It's been raining here a couple times a week so ground is not dry. 900 and D2 can easily hit the same targets in my coin garden so it's a Manticore issue.

I just bought a new Legend 1.11, this should help a lot, thanks!

Thanks Aureous, that is entirely what I expected, logic says a 10x5" with the same windings type is going to be more sensitive than a 12x7" it's just the odd person says they think the 12x7" is more sensitive. I don't mind, I expected the 10x5" to be more sensitive and I was intending to use the 12x7" for covering more ground as I don't want to use the 14x9" for that, it lacks too much sensitivity for me. The extra depth of the 12x7" will be nice over the 10x5" too when exploring around.

Awesome pics! Thanks for the color (no pun intended) on your experience and the pics really make it clear and inspiring. I am looking forward to getting the 10x5 out.

Or maybe we should call these “Stupid Steve Tricks” for now. I’ve only begun delving into these weird settings but figure I may as well toss them out there for other people to experiment with also. I’ll post more somewhere down the line when I come up with something more definitive. But for now, I’ll just give a brief summary. Minimum Sensitivity - I was working a location that was dense with trash, way too many signals. Sensitivity 1 really worked some magic in making it possible to use the machine in dense trash. Way too early to say much on this yet, other than that I did find it useful for cherry picking coins in a park by digging low tones only, which eliminates low conductors in favor of mid to high conductors. I was able to get more coin than trash targets. I still dig trash with a VLF so this was a good resultant in my limited testing. I am going to see what happens on depth on a 1/4 oz nugget going from high to low sensitivity in a future test. Salt Setting - yes it tunes out small gold. But how small? I don’t know yet, but it’s not as bad as people might think. It can also shut up some ground and hot rocks other settings will struggle with. I need more work with both this and Large Mode. My initial sense is that the differences between the modes are more subtle than dramatic. Minimum Threshold - this shows the most promise for developing a silent search “Bogenes Settings” methodology for the Axiom. -7 still has some audio break through. -9 is pretty much dead silent but seems too aggressive? I’ve settled on -8 so far as a preference, and was surprised at how well small nuggets jump out still, and with good depth. It also allows for a bit higher sensitivity setting, so I would highly encourage people to try these very low Threshold settings with either a normal or slightly boosted sensitivity setting. For some situations I’m thinking I might be employing this a lot. Super pleasant way to hunt for those that hate a threshold. I just wish there was more nuance as right now the jump between -7 to -8 to -9 is coarser than I’d like. I put it on my wish list for an update. Forced Frequency Setting - default frequency is 50 with range from 0 - 99. The automatic frequency scan is fairly simple. It scans all frequencies looking for the quietest one. It is therefore imperative normally that you do not introduce extra noise by moving the detector while it scans. Normally I’d have the coil on the ground so it is picking up anything it would pick up in normal sweeping, but aiming the coil at a nearby EMI source like another detector can help eliminate that source, so it bears playing with if it still seems noisy on the first go. If you have an pinpointer, turn it on and set it it 2-3 feet away while doing a frequency scan - this will let most pinpointers play very nicely with the Axiom. And do remember that going to a lower sensitivity or DD coil vs mono also help reduce EMI. The interesting question here is that for areas with no EMI, is there any difference in the frequencies? There very well might be, though in my limited testing so far I’ve found no smoking gun. But if you want to try, here is the trick. If you want a frequency of 99, start the scan going, then wave a metal item over the coil while the machine scans 0 to about 90, then get the metal away, and let the scan finish. Very good chance you’ll end up at frequency 90 or higher, if not try again. To hit the other extreme, start the scan, and when it gets to about 10, now wave metal over the coil until it gets to 99, then stop and let it finish. You should end up at 10 or lower. With a little practice you can force almost anything, but I think the main interest is in the two extremes. Can anyone find a discernible difference on any target between the extremes? In theory there should be one, but again, my very limited tests so far have not found anything. So there you go. I do like the fact that the Axiom does not have too many controls, but on the other has enough to give me things to think about and experiment with. Early days still, new machine, people need to experiment and share notes. So that’s mine so far, hopefully a few of you will take up the challenge and add your own observations.

F350 —- Now I am going to listen to Skynyrd tonight. Song stuck in head!

If so, I wouldn't guess there would be a large percentage of Deus II owners that would be interested...

Oh, the manticore is much better in so many ways such as build quality, the nice interface and screen, more features 2d target trace etc but finding the coins I'm after at the moment I can't see how in my situation I will find more using my Manticore than I would my Nox, maybe that will change with time as I find new areas and give it the "first run" rather than going over done ground but so far I'm not finding anything I've missed. At my local sports field where I got hundreds of silvers I haven't found one with the Manticore yet that I'd missed in about 17 hours of trying. That kinda surprised me as I found 31 in total with the CTX when I first went there after the Nox, perhaps they're the 31 the Manticore would have found the Nox missed 🙂 There is also the factor of the operator, maybe I need to learn the detector more too to get iffy targets. I wasn't on the forum when I first got my CTX so I didn't do a post about it at the time but the first day I took my CTX to the field I'd been using my Nox for a year the CTX came out with 12 silvers almost all the smallest 3 pence coins I'd previously missed mainly due to depth and I think possibly they were on edge and the CTX gave me a better dig me signal on them. The other possibility which is likely is because the 3 pence comes up on the pull tab ID I rejected them with the Nox thinking they were a pull tab and the CTX ID'd them away from the common Pull tab ID. My dig decision on coins vs pull tab is usually depth, if the target is deep its more often than not a coin, under 6" I write it off as a pull tab as I rarely find a silver coin under 6" deep, 6" to 10" seems the sweet spot for silvers here, probably more than 10" if I had a detector good enough to find them. My deepest have all been with the CTX and 17x13" coil. That was my first time using it! I was hoping the Manticore was going to give me a nice surprise like that. For the two things I do with it, prospecting (800 is currently better due to coils) and silver coins it's not so far been a detector that's surprised me or excited me with what it's finding. People in trashy areas or more difficult soil or something may notice a more dramatic change, in my very mild clean soils I guess the playing fields are more even which is probably realistic as I honestly believe 90% of the coins I found at that sports field my Ace 300 could have found. I've taken it there a number of times randomly and my results were similar as when I was using my Nox. Beach hunters have clearly shown the benefits over the Nox, you're obviously finding it a lot better than the Nox too strick so that's great, I hope I end up feeling the same eventually, I'm happy with the target ID improvements now as it has improved for me to a point it's more in line with what I'd expect with the larger range of numbers. I use the Manticore as my primary now, but if I had to go back to using my Nox I wouldn't feel like I'm missing much.

June 19 2002 Jim is feeling a bit better this morning and has decided to take watch duty on the mountain. He is far from being mobile however and we had to assist him all the way up to the watchpost. He will not be able to patrol the water line either. At noon we broke for lunch and took the gold weigh up to Jim to cheer him up. There were 3.8 ounces. We all ate lunch with Jim and decided to bring him back to camp and Jacob took over the watch. He makes me nervous with that Thompson and has an itchy trigger finger as well. We got some relief from the heat today and actually had some rain. There were no problems with hooligans as Jacob calls them and we put in a good day's work and sent 32 yards of pay gravel through the tom. Jacob was helping us shovel from time to time as well as testing the gravels we were working. He told us we were still on good ground. We are all hoping this rich material holds up for when we get out trommel up and running again. TO BE CONTINUED ..................

There is no such law GhostMiner. I believe you are confusing the suction dredge moratorium with other forms of mining. A common confusion in California but not a law. How about this - a little more nuanced and accurate assessment of the law. In California you may not extract water from a stream by mechanized means for the purposes of mining bank or streambed material. In California if you wish to use water from a stream to mine non bank or non streambed material your mechanized pump must be at least 300 feet from the stream. This only applies to mining. Many other forms of mechanized in stream activity and you are good to go. There are a lot of pumps on California waterways and most of them are perfectly legal as long as they aren't used in mining.

Ha. Those code names are better than the actual names.

It is a detector so good it takes two boxes to haul all the treasure it finds back to the truck.

It would be cool if it was a PI. Maybe a program added to the remote and an accessory coil would allow PI capabilities. Probably way off, but I can keep hoping.

I’m going to say either a large coil or the Two Box setup they’ve been working on.

Have you tried re-installing the update.. That has worked for me on a couple of other detectors. HH Richard

I look at it this way, XP has been working on the 2-box rig for a while. If that is finally off of their plate, surely a 10x5" D2 coil would be the next thing and also a very easy build for them. They already have the formfactor from the D1. It doesn't have to be waterproof (although that would be preferable) and we all know they will sell a ton of 10x5 coils. I think they know all this. 😎

Nice additional write up after spending more time with it. Iron audio definitely seems like a good tool for checking targets as you described

Thank you all for the welcome, and for the great responses! Sounds like I am legally in the clear. As for the response about the type of auger, I absolutely agree. Fortunately we have many different types of hand auger at work, and I am accustomed to having to use more than one type of auger to dig a given hole. Regarding existing claims, is there a source for up to date claim maps? Something that I could buy or download? Does California require that claims be posted? Thanks, everyone!

Thank you for this suggestion. I bought a pair of these and like them. They pair easily with the legend. I had a low latency transmitter lying around so I can now use them with my X-Terra Pro too.